Brazil Absorbs an Early and Familiar Shock, Then Rewrites the Script

TEMUCO, Chile — Brazil has worked very hard over the last 12 months to bury all traces of last year’s World Cup disaster. Under its new coach, Dunga, the team played 10 friendly games without a loss and at times looked a bit like its old self.

But it took only two minutes of its first truly competitive match since the World Cup to refresh everyone’s memory of that utter humiliation.

With a colossal defensive miscue all too reminiscent of that day a year ago, a 7-1 loss to Germany in the semifinals, Brazil conceded a goal to Peru’s Christian Cueva in the second minute of their opening Copa América match here Sunday, sending shudders of fear throughout its fan base.

This was Brazil’s first chance at redemption, or at the very least a demonstration of its improvement. Instead, it was the eighth goal the team had conceded in 92 minutes of real competition (surely no one counts the third-place loss to the Netherlands), and the Brazilian fans on a wet, bone-chilling night in Temuco were having nasty flashbacks.

But not, apparently, David Luiz, the former Chelsea player whose dangerous back pass to the goalie Jefferson found its way onto Peruvian feet.

“It’s very difficult when that happens,” said Luiz, who was very much a part of the debacle against Germany. “But let’s play. There was what, 85 minutes still to play, no?”

Indeed, just as that sickening feeling returned to the Brazilian fans, Neymar headed home the equalizer just three minutes later, and some semblance of normalcy returned. But Brazil struggled, and it was not until two minutes into injury time that Douglas Costa, after taking a perfectly incisive pass from Neymar, scored to save Brazil with a desperately needed 2-1 victory.

In a very tiny way, the great soccer-playing nation of Brazil is back, but only after roughly 88 minutes of tense competition against an inferior team.

“This is Brazil,” Luiz said in English. “The responsibility is always to win. It doesn’t matter the past. The responsibility is always to win games and competitions.”

The Copa América is seen by many as a chance for Brazil to erase at least some of the memory of its loss to Germany. But that was hard to do even here in the remote Chilean winter, because haunting reminders were everywhere.

Brazil stayed at the Hotel Dreams Araucania on Avenida Alemania, a street named in recognition of the strong German influence in this part of Chile. The stadium where the game took place is called Estadio Germán Becker.

“These are not good omens,” said Pablo Soto Maior, a 36-year-old travel agent born in Florianópolis, Brazil, who traveled to Temuco from Santiago to watch the game.

Then, about 15 minutes into the game, the Peruvian and Chilean fans behind the Brazil goal yelled, “Siete a uno,” a chant that needed no translation.

Earlier in Group C, Venezuela shocked Colombia, 1-0, and the night before, Paraguay staged a late comeback to draw with Argentina. Those unexpected results added some flair to the tournament, and Brazil’s difficulty against Peru all combined with them to show how difficult this tournament has become.

Despite their uninspired start, the Brazilians have reason to feel slightly better about their team over the last 12 months. Since Dunga came back after the World Cup and replaced Luiz Felipe Scolari as coach of La Seleçao, as the team is known, Brazil had gone undefeated in 10 games, including a 2-0 win over Argentina in France in October. But those were all friendlies. Scolari’s team put together a similar record before the World Cup, and everyone knows where that led.

The Copa América is not the World Cup, but it is important, perhaps for no team more than Brazil, as Dunga conceded before the game.

“Brazil have had some great players in the past who failed to win the Copa,” he said. “Things have only become harder with the development of our rivals. That means there is enormous pressure. We have to be humble and believe in ourselves.”

Dunga has dismissed allegations that his team relies too heavily on Neymar, a problem that afflicted the World Cup team. But Neymar was named the man of the match, and deservedly so. Even though Brazil looked vulnerable and lucky to get the win, Neymar had two other good opportunities to score. One first-half shot, seemingly headed for the open goal mouth, was blocked by defender Carlos Zambrano. Another in the second half hit the crossbar, and yet one more missed just wide.

Finally, in the 92nd minute, Neymar’s precision pass across the penalty area and through Peru’s offside trap found Costa, who knew what to do with it. He punched home the game winner to the near side of goalie Pedro Gallese, and the Brazilians gathered along the touchline and celebrated with their first victory dance in a meaningful game since before Germany.

“We are relieved, of course,” midfielder Felipe Luís said in English. “Everyone wants to start the competition with a win, especially after the way Peru started by scoring a goal in the beginning. We had to change the way we played.”

Correction:

An article on June 15 about Brazil’s 2-1 victory over Peru in its opening match in the Copa América soccer tournament misstated, in some copies, the surname of the player who scored Peru’s goal in the second minute. He is Christian Cueva, not Cueza.

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page D4 of the New York edition with the headline: Brazil Absorbs an Early and Familiar Shock, Then Rewrites the Script . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe